So far this early season the Yankees have impressed and disappointed in equal fashion. For each game this year I have given a bit of a preview of small things that have blossomed into full blown issues for the team.

There was concern that Tex's early season struggles were about less than being rusty, but a factor of cold weather and pressure:

There was a discussion about the desperate need for AJ Burnett to pitch deep into games in order to save the bullpen for the major question marks behind him in the rotation

And how, quite simply they need a complete victory from the entire team in order to win games day in and day out.

But because each of the nine games the Yankees have played have been against incomplete teams (Tigers, Twins and Red Sox) that gave the Bombers the luxury of hiding one of these defects and still win games.

But over the course of the next six days two first places team are coming to the Bronx sporting excellent rotations, batters who are hitting for power and average, and solid bullpens. This week is an important early season measuring stick for the Yankees, and we the fans, to gauge exactly where the team stands against the best in the league.

We've seen the flaws and inconsistencies on this Yankee team come to the surface one at a time, but against Baltimore and Texas the concern should be that we'll see them all in one game, every game.

It's going to start with AJ tonight. As I continue to warn, if he melts down early the Yankee pen will be depleted for Hughes start on Wednesday and the entire week becomes a question of surviving the back end of the Yankee rotation.

Offensively, every hitter has their own individual issues, but I firmly believe that success every week comes down to the tandem of Gardner and Jeter. Get on base and they'll put pressure on opposing pitchers. And that leads to success.

Why did Mark Teixeira get off to a blazing start with 3 three run homers in the first few games? Because there were runners on base. Fast base runners distract pitchers and good hitters get pitches they can drive. It's a baseball edict from the stone age. But as Gardner (.167) and Jeter (206) stopped getting on base, Tex became the focus of the pitcher's entire attention. His average went from .333 on April 5 to .182 today.

To simplify a complicated equation down to its lowest common denominator, against the best teams in the AL right now, the Yankees need to get a quality start from AJ, and Gardner/Jeter must get on base so that the batters behind them have distracted pitchers on the mound providing RBI chances.

Everything else, including a shot at first place by Thursday, will begin from there.